Want to WC my new system, are these parts up to the task?

[kberguy1]

I have decided to watercool my new system, as my Opteron 170 processor seems to have a major problem with heat. I hate to have to do things twice, so I need some feedback regarding my parts choices.

The proposed system will eventually include two water cooled nVidia 7900 GTX video cards, and it must also have enough cooling capacity to eventually work with an overclocked AMD FX-60 CPU.

These are the parts under consideration:

Thermochill PA120.3 (or Black Ice Extreme III) radiator
Panaflo 120mm x 38 mm Medium Flow Fans (3)
Swiftech MCP655 or Danger Den D5 12V pump
Swiftech MCRES Micro Reservoir with Danger Den Fill port
Swiftech Storm (Rev.2) CPU Water Block
Danger Den NV-78 GPU Blocks (2)
Tygon R3603 7/16" I.D./11/16" O.D. Tubing
MCT-5 Non-conductive Cooling Fluid

I will be putting everything in my new Silverstone Temjin T07 case, and will have the top part of the case professionally machined out to fit the 120.3 radiator (currently have room "stock" for a 120.2 radiator).

I will be using 1/2" fittings all around, and hope the use of 7/16" I.D. tubing will allow me to connect everything without the need for clamps by heating the ends of hose in boiling water before pushing on fittings (as mentioned on Danger Den website).

I had though about having two 120.2 radiators in the system, as it could all fit in my case if I moved the hard drives into 5 1/4" hard drive enclosures and removed the original hard drive cages.

However, I believed that a dual radiator system and its resulting complexity/additional connections would be more likely to cause problems than if I kept it simple and went with one 120.3 radiator.

I hav listed the Black Ice Extreme III X-Flow rad as an alternative, as I am unsure where to find Thermochill in Canada, but the PA 120.3 Rad is definitely my first choice.

In the end, I want components that cool well, are quiet, and will provide a safe and durable water cooling system using 12V power from the main PSU.

What do you think?

[K.I.T.T.]

Looks OK, but get rid of the non-conductive stuff anduse distilled water :)

Also, why not use a T-line instead of a res?

[creidiki]

As as performance goes:

Normal BIP is better than BIP X-Flow in 99% of cases. PA is the best. BIP > BIX for the fans youve chosen. BIX performs better with fans well above 100CFM.

MPC600/50Z > MCP655/D5. Youll get better temps. If youre really worried about the max head difference, run it @ 13.8v, or run 2.

T-Line > Reservoir

Maze 4/MP-1/MCW60 > Full-cover blocks (NV78 and EK)

Pure DeIonized Water > MCT/FluidXP

DangerDen ships PAs to canada, and so does thermochill straight from the Uk IIRC, or O-CuK.

120.3 will probably give much the same temps as 2 120.2s... its certainly simpler, less tubing and easyer to bleed.

You still need clamps. Even with 7/16 no clamps is asking for trouble. Personally, i prefer 7/16 masterkleer to 7/16 tygon...

[KaptCrunch]

i'll suggest a big PSU (http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_powerstream_power_supply-sli_ready_) to run 2x7900 cards and water stuff

[creidiki]

Enermax 620W will be ample :)

[kberguy1]

i'll suggest a big PSU (http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_powerstream_power_supply-sli_ready_) to run 2x7900 cards and water stuff

Yeah, I know its going to take a lot of power. However, my new Silverstone T07 case has room for 2 PSU's, and I will be eventually add a smaller Enermax Liberty PSU to run all WC components/fans/etc, so should be okay.

If I wasn't going to have 5 x Maxtor 250 GB HD's in a RAID 5 array, I would likely be okay with one PSU, but am building for performance and long term reliability, so I won't take chance

[creidiki]

I think one will be fine. 271W at the wall with an FX-57 and one 7900GTX. I doubt very much that youll need 2. I guess if you want the extra peace of mind you might as well, but if youre that worried id swap for one PC&P PSU instead.

[kberguy1]

The consensus so far seems to be this:

I should definitely use Thermochill PA 120.3 Radiator if possible.

A T-line will work as better than a reservoir.

Something like a MAZE 4 GPU block will outperform a full covered block.

My Enermax Liberty 620W PSU should have "more than adequate" power for my system.

There is no need for the non-conductive fluid.

Would distilled water with Redline Water Wetter work okay?

Hose clamps are still required for safety.

Is there a preferred type of clamp to use?

Is there a "best" pump to use for water cooling that runs on 12V?

What are the favorite components in YOUR water cooled system?

[creidiki]

Watter Wetter or other additives arent needed if your loop only contains brass & copper. It will only decrease the cooling performance of pure deionized water :)

I use steel worm clamps, personally... they work well and you can find them in any plumbing store, which is nice.

The best pump around would be the AquaXtreme 50Z. Some (maxxxracer for one) argue that a D5/MCP655 would be better with a big rad like yours... i disagree. Whoever is wrong, the temperature difference will be about 1 degree, so just go for what saves you on shipping :)

[andersson.j]

GPU block
While Maze4 (http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=150) will outperform a full cover block it's still about the oldest gpu block around and there's better alternatives like AquaXtreme MP-1 (http://www.cooltechnica.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=AQX-MP1-GPU-DT), Swiftech MCW60 (http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mcw60.asp) and Silverprop FusionSL (http://www.petrastechshop.com/sicyfu.html). There's no good test that shows which one of these three is the best performer but the difference probably isn't very big. I chose the Silverprop block since it looks much nicer than the others, the SL version is lower than DDs maze4 low profile and there's a peltier version. No matter which one you pick Swiftechs MC14 RAMsinks are very good. I advice you to read MaxxxRacers Guide To Current WaterCooling Components (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75873).

Pump(s?)
The D5 or 50Z are both great pumps but I prefer the DDC-Ultra (http://www.alphacool.de/xt/product_info.php?products_id=3735). Two DDC-Ultras in series is about as good as it gets on DC if you ask me! If you havn't already done so I suggest that you read MaxxxRacers thread Choosing The Best Pump for Your WaterCooling System (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=41495).

Water additives
As crediki said you don't need any additives but I belive that some anit algee additive would lengthen the service intervals and the temp difference wouldn't be noticiable /w a regular thermometer. I suggest that you use Zerex (http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=77).

Securing the hoses
I prefer zip-ties /w shrink tubing over because of it's stealth look. The safest alternative is by far the worm drive clamps. Read MaxxxRacers excellent thread Guide To WaterCooling and Leak Testing (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54331), it also covers how to thoroughly clean all components to avoid foggy hoses, increasing temps and lengthens the service intervalls.

Chipset
Do not water cool your chipset. It doesn't need it and you won't see any higher clocks because of the lower temps. You will only get warmer cpu and gpu tems due to the increased restriction in the loop.
I have to recommend Swiftechs MCX159-CU (http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mcx159-CU.asp) chipset cooler. I got it a few days ago and I just love it! I don't know what motherboard you'll be using so you better check if it fits first.

The next level
You seem to be looking for the best, have you considered phase change for the cpu or peltier cooling for the gpus? DD makes a TEC version of their maze4 named maze4-1 (http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=134) and Silverprop also makes a TEC version of their Fusion block named FusionSLT(Low Profile, Thermoelectric) (http://www.petrastechshop.com/sicyfulprthg.html). If you don't want to take the step to peltier cooling yet but might want to try it in the future you should buy a TEC ready gpu block and simply remove the coldplate untill you feel like peltier cooling. The additional cost is small. If you buy a powerfull PSU like the 1000W PC Power and Cooling (http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=TC1KW) you could easily run a couple of 80W pelts of it too, you could even do it with a weaker psu or just a second one.